Qadri, Khan two sides of same coin: PML-N

LAHORE - Reposing confidence in the Election Commission of Pakistan, PML-N Additional Secretary General Ahsan Iqbal has accused Dr Tahirul Qadri and Imran Khan of disrupting electoral process by making the commission “controversial”. “The forces up against timely elections now stand exposed and the PML-N will resist their efforts sternly,” Ahsan told a press conference Wednesday. Senator Tariq Azeem was also present.Naming Dr Qadri and Khan who have of late joined hands to seek reconstitution of the commission, Ahsan said: “The two are brothers and on the same page.” He said the demand for reconstitution of the commission is part of the agenda of the forces trying to impede smooth transfer of power in a democratic way after the elections. Without naming the PPP as backing Khan, Dr Qadri and former President Pervez Musharraf, Iqbal said the PPP would be a direct beneficiary if elections were postponed by the virtue of ‘game’ being played by the trio. “The PPP is anticipating a crushing defeat in the upcoming polls on account of its poor performance over the last five years as such delay in the elections will go to its advantage. But his party will not let the election get postponed at any cost,” he added.Referring to the State Bank report on excessive borrowing by the federal government, he demanded the Bank to restrict further lending to the government. He said borrowing by the government exceeding the lawful limit was tantamount to leaving the financial burden to the next government. Replying to a question, Ahsan expressed concern over the harassment being caused to the investigation officer of Ogra case and urged the Supreme Court to take suo moto notice. He asked the officers not to play any role to shield corruption of the rulers.Responding to another query on the reconstitution of the Election Commission, he said no other than the constitutional way was available to oust any member of the commission. “The procedure is the same which the constitution has laid down to remove a judge of the superior judiciary. Objection is being made to the EC members by some elements to give logic to their sure defeat in the next elections,” Iqbal added. Challenging the Khan’s position, the PML-N leader said, Khan could not win even if he was made caretaker prime minister. Talking about the allegations levelled by Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira on the Sharifs that they belong to Makkah and Madina, Iqbal said they take pride in relationship with these holy cities. He asked Kaira to tell the masses what his government did in the five-year rule except giving them loadshedding, lawlessness, price hike, target killing, unemployment, etc.Answering a question on Taliban’s demand to make Nawaz Sharif guarantor of their prospective agreement with the government, he said Nawaz was not holding any public office while guarantee could be given only by the government and the public functionary. Replying to another query, he said his party would fully honour the Supreme Court direction for restricting image of party head on advertisements.

This news was published in The Nation newspaper. Read complete newspaper of 07-Feb-2013 here.